a house i am considering buying, an REO, has Assessor report of 2051 sq ft, 4 beds and 2.5 baths. tape measures at over 4,000 sq ft. listing agent reports 2,103 sq ft. 1 of the sq ft reports is upstairs the other is downstairs. 2 beds, 2 baths upstairs and 2 beds, 1 bath downstairs. Assessor report has 4 beds and 2.5 baths total which legitimizes the downstairs. house is beautiful. there is no apparent (visual inspection of quality and mechanical ig ac/heat) difference between the two floors as is suggested by the assessor's correspondence below.

any ideas why assessor should consider 2 of 4 bedrooms same yet sq ft as not 100% equal in living space?


correspondence from a county assessor regarding the discrepancy:

Assessor Records show that there is 2,051 square foot in living area and 2,103 square feet of additional area that is not 100% equal to living area, i.e. and enclosed patio area. It is probable that the real estate agent isn't making a distinction between these two square footage areas but we do.

Generally, in real estate terms, SF only includes heated/cooled areas for our purposes. It also does not include below ground SF (basements - even walkout basements) or unpermitted additions/finish out. It does not include patios, enclosed patios, porches, garages, etc.

Your question does not really give enough information for me to know what is going on in this particular situation, but maybe the information I gave helps. My guess is that the discrepancy lies in unpermitted additions or finish out.

indeed, your response has helped.

i do believe everything is permitted; the Assessor counted -4- bedrooms are on opposite sides on both floors of the house, thus the square footage of the bedrooms upstairs is counted in the Assessor report but the square footage of the downstairs bedrooms are not (go figure).

the downstairs is not an enclosed patio by anyone's standard. garage is detached (holds 8+ cars).

what is a "finish out"?

i do believe the 4000 sq ft tape and 2000 Assessor report discrepancy is answered in that the basement is not counted in the report.